Hello everyone! Congrats to everyone who received letters of admissions. To those waitlisted, don't give up, three of my best friends here were waitlisted before they ultimately got it. For those rejected, get angry, let it out, do whatever you need to. Unlike a lot of Dukies, Duke was not my first choice, but that doesn't mean that I deserve to be here less than someone else or that I enjoy it less than they do. Love the schools you did get into and eventually they will become your home just as Duke has become mine. I still feel kind of a bitter towards my #1 choice, but whatever, you've just got to accept that the decisions process is semi-random and totally subjective. It's a lot like life. Honestly after a year at duke I see how pointless it is to compare the top 30/50. My education would not change at all if I went to USC or Vandy or wherever, the only differences are people, tradition, and clubs/connections/opportunities (not better or worse, just different). A lot of Duke professors suck. A lot will change your life. A University is so heterogeneous that comparisons between students are useless, let alone comparisons with other schools. Love where you end up, forget what came before.
"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned."
-Buddha
Now for those accepted, I will be a Blue Devil Days Tour Guide and if you have ANY questions ask away. I entreat any other Dukies to join in as I cannot promise that I'll be able to be on here everyday (midterms here never end haha).
I guess just some basic FAQ-esque comments:
-Yes the weather is blazing hot when you arrive, glorious after those first few weeks of scorching sun, and quite cold from Dec-Feb
-Yes you will question your major, most pre-meds will drop because they don't love medicine they just love the idea of being a doctor
-Yes East rocks, and no what dorm you are in does not matter. I am in the Backyard (RANDOLPH!) but the main quad dorms have just as much fun
-The marketplace will be wonderful for the first month, decent for the rest of 1st semester, and terrible 2nd semester. But don't worry about it. Commiserating with everyone else about your marketplace woes makes for hilarious odes and conversations
-Yes Duke rocks, I don't know a single person who tried to transfer
-The Blue Book will come. It will tell you all. Skim my class's blue book to get the idea (everything will probably be the same except for dates and fees)
-Campus Opportunities are beyond amazing and you will find your niche, don't stress about making friends, networking, finding your perfect place, or whatever else you are agonizing over. It always works out and you discover who truly are in the presence of the some of the world's greatest people.
-If you're on the fence about Duke don't be. I got off the Harvard waitlist and I just couldn't accept it. I've never regretted sticking with Duke.
**For reference:
I am male, a freshman, from MO, secretary of the freshman class/VP of my dorm, an Econ & International Comparative Studies double major, in NROTC, involved with: the chronicle, american grand strategy program, la table francaise, and Sig Pi.
I will be giving 6 BDD tours (4/12 11:30 & 12:15, 4/15 11:30 & 12:15, and 4/18 11:45 & 12:45) & 2 student info sessions (4/11 & 4/14) . If you think you'll be coming to BDD and you want to speak before or after one of my tours/sessions just message me! I remember how many questions I had, so I'm here to help y'all as much as I can.
Last edited by USNAgolden2014; 03-30-2011 at 09:02 PM.
The definition of "quite cold" will vary from person to person. The lowest temperature I recall is around the mid-20's in the middle of the night, maybe the high 10's.
I'm a senior ME/BME major and would be happy to answer your questions, if you have any.
USNAgolden2014 is a great guy and what he says is definitely true, so please take note!
Coming here was the best decision of my life so far (yes, that's quite a bold statement), and I have absolutely no regrets. I've met some of the best people in my life here, and I can't wait for the next three years to unfold.
Likewise with Ouroboros313, feel free to message me any questions about life at Duke (especially as a freshman)!
same here - i'm also in randolph (woot backyard woot!) and i hail from FL and you are welcome to message me for any reason
oh and i'm a FAC so if you end up in randolph i will likely be in an obnoxiously bright shirt, moving you into your room!
I was wondering if any of you know people in the wellness dorm and how they like it and stuff. I personally dont really drink but a lot of my friends drink and im not against drinking I was just kind of wondering what my options are.
Also are duke engage programs difficult to get into?
Is it difficult to double major in engineering and another subject that is not math science heavy?
Have you ever met any of the basketball players or had any classes with them?
I was wondering if any of you know people in the wellness dorm and how they like it and stuff. I personally dont really drink but a lot of my friends drink and im not against drinking I was just kind of wondering what my options are.
- i don't know anyone from that dorm very well but i can tell you that many of my friends don't drink and we aren't in a wellness dorm, and it doesn't change your social life at all.
Also are duke engage programs difficult to get into?
- don't know yet, i'm a freshman
Is it difficult to double major in engineering and another subject that is not math science heavy?
-okay engineering is pretty hard warning you now. its doable to double major in something humanities-related, but its hard. your 4 years are pretty much mapped out if you're in pratt, so you'd probably have to take extra courses to accomplish that. i can tell you that because i was in civil engineering trying to double major in english (which was a fail - now i'm just straight up english major)
Have you ever met any of the basketball players or had any classes with them?
-i've met one, and you see them across campus. i mean they're students too haha so you'll probably see them around. oh if you end up in bassett then yes, you probably will
@ash411
A lot of people double major in engineering and a non-science major, economics being the most popular. It's not impossible at all. It will require, however, some foresight and planning to get the right classes at the right time so you can graduate on time. Of course, the more AP credits you bring, the more flexibility you will have.
You can take a look at the curriculum here http://www.pratt.duke.edu/our-departments . If you come with absolutely no AP credits, then you most likely will have to overload to 5 courses a few times, or take summer courses, to get everything done. Speaking from experience, taking 5 classes is no problem so long as they're not all HW intensive.
Last edited by Ouroboros313; 03-30-2011 at 11:39 PM.
Hahhaha I love Lwalk5 & Augustagurrl, we live in the same dorm (small world ahaha)
I was wondering if any of you know people in the wellness dorm and how they like it and stuff. I personally dont really drink but a lot of my friends drink and im not against drinking I was just kind of wondering what my options are.
- Unless you are truly against drinking don't do wellness. If you come back to the dorm drunk you get in sooo much trouble. Essentially you can't ever really experiment (& return home, you could always crash somewhere else I guess). Wellness is not for the faint of heart, you've got to be pretty committed to being straight-edge. It also has a tendency to be dominated by asians and girls (just fyi), just another factor in the equation. I would not recommend it unless you feel strongly about it.
Also are duke engage programs difficult to get into?
- yes and no. It all depends on what (if any) languages you speak, your passion for the project, and the number of applicants. I know a lot of freshman going on DukeEngage trips abroad (Kenya, Vietnam, South Africa), but I also know a lot who were rejected. Hope for it but don't count on it kind of thing.
Is it difficult to double major in engineering and another subject that is not math science heavy?
-IMO no, unless you don't study abroad, take summer school, and have a crap load of APs (all of the chem/bio/physics/calc ones for sure). You can definitely try it of course! I just don't see it being worth it (enjoy your time here, don't get so caught up in your degree that you forget about why you're really in college [to become something great- the true you]. If you really want to though, go for it. Dukies do the impossible on the daily.
Have you ever met any of the basketball players or had any classes with them?
-Occasionally but they're so busy that it's always a random thing. Some people see Nolan every week whereas I've never seen him. They generally don't count for much in terms of the average Dukie's life
Assignments are random unless you do FOCUS in which case you'll live with the other students in your FOCUS. You can make a preference between single/double/triple (and I think AC/no AC, but I'm not 100% sure on that).
I stayed in Bell Tower for a few weeks. It's very nice: common rooms with large flat screens on every floor, AC, study rooms, elevator, and a lounge with massage chairs on the first floor. The rooms are a tad on the small side, however, and some people have said that it feels more like a hotel than a dorm, whatever that means.
Bell Tower is nicknamed "Hotel Bell."
It is quite obviously the nicest (amenities wise) dorm. However, pretty much everywhere you live on east will be great. Don't worry too much about which individual dorm you get.
And while the FOCUS programs do have specific dorms as Ouroboros said, you can't plan around that because they switch dorms from year to year.
Randolph, Blackwell, and Bell Tower are all AC, but the other dorms are about 1/2 AC due to medical reasons (it's very easy to get a window unit for X medical ailment)
As of right now, I'm deciding between Duke and a whole bunch of liberal arts colleges. Duke is one of the largest schools I applied to, and I was wondering what your experience has been with class sizes/professor accessibility?
How large is the campus (ie how long does it take you to get across campus by foot)?
What is the benefit of doing a Focus program and how difficult is it to get into one?
1. I'm also curious about the Focus programs. Will it make the university seem smaller at all? Will I have more interactions with professors?
2. I'm a strict vegetarian. I don't eat any type of seafood as well. Will I have trouble selecting food?
3. Why do most people drop out of pre-med? Is it because they finally realize how tough it is/lose interest? I really do NOT want that to happen to me, but I'm afraid that because I didn't take AP Physics, and didn't score well on my AP Chem test, I will have to double my efforts to succeed. I will place out of AP Bio, but because I did not do well on the other tests, will I have to try a lot harder than other people who DID do well on those tests and placed out?
4. Does Duke do placement tests? Even after I scored a 5 for AP Bio, do I have to take another test before I can actually place out of Intro Bio?
5. Is it worth it to go to Duke if my financial aid package isn't so great (I'm still waiting on it, but I'm just curious). Is it better to rack up 60,000 dollars in loans for undergrad at Duke than to stay with a state college, and not end up with any undergrad loans?
